Lessons Learned from Delylah…

Some lessons learned are taught in the most unusual ways when you least expect them.

About seven years ago, I was an administrator at a local charter school. It was a hard job with many difficulties. One was my boss who would call at all hours of the day, night, and weekend, expecting an answer right away.

She put unreachable demands on her staff and many teachers left because of her. I wish I could look back and say I handled things rightly. I trusted the Lord and did the best I could do and left it at that. However, that is far from the truth.

I stressed and worried and had anxiety. I would lose sleep thinking about what is going to happen when I lost my job and Jim lost his.

Would we loose our car?

Would my kids go hungry?

Round and round my thoughts went. Everyday. Hours upon hours. This went on for months until one day, a little over five years ago, I had my first seizure. Then I had another, and another.

I was put on medical leave and once the leave ended, one of my worst fears came to fruition. I was let go. Two months later, another worry came true when the school let Jim go as well. All those days I worried, feared, stressed, and had anxiety—-it all come to pass. I just knew we were going to loose it all and hurt people in the process.

Five years later, I can share with you that we did not lose our house, our car, and we aren’t living on the streets. God took care of us through it all. I can now look back and say we are in a better place than we were then. Jim has a great job with a wonderful and caring boss. I have the tremendous joy of being a part of the ministry of Celebrate Lit where I am extremely blessed through the friends I have made. God has been good.

So, you are probably wondering what all this has to do with my dog Delylah? Well, my Delylah is a house dog that loves to be with the family. However, if we leave the house and she is unattended, she can be quite naughty so whenever we leave the house, we have to put her in her kennel.

Fortunately, it is not very often that we have to do this, but every time we do, she shakes, drools, and hides. She hates it. It is her worst fear. Anytime she sees us getting ready, she begins her routine – drool, shakes, and hides – even when we are not going anywhere, and she is not going in her kennel.

One day as I saw her in the corner, shaking and drooling, I began to think about how much time she wastes and how much she misses out on because of her anxiety. Maybe five times a month she goes in her kennel, but she daily stresses about it.

Aren’t we like this?

We stress, fear, worry, and have anxiety about things that never come to fruition – and even if they do, God still takes care of us. Let’s just call it what it is – sin. The sin of worry and anxiety causes to miss out on so much. It also shows our lack of trust in the Lord. If we truly trusted in Him – knowing that He is sovereign over all things – what would we have to fear? What would we have to be anxious over or to worry over?

Let’s just call it what it is – sin. The sin of worry and anxiety causes to miss out on so much. It also shows our lack of trust in the Lord. If we truly trusted in Him – knowing that He is sovereign over all things – what would we have to fear? What would we have to be anxious over or to worry over?

The sin of worry and anxiety causes us to miss out on so much. It also shows our lack of trust in the Lord. If we truly trust in Him, believe He is sovereign over all things, what is to fear? What would we have to be anxious for or to worry over?

I still struggle with fear, worry, and anxiety daily. However, I go to God’s word; I pray, and I seek Him, so I can spend more time having the joy of fellowship with and serving Him.

Sandy Barela

Sandra Barela, wife and the mom of three teenagers, received her bachelor’s and master’s degree in Education at the National University and will soon be awarded her master’s in English with a focus on Creative Fiction from Southern New Hampshire University. During her program there, she took a publishing class and fell in love with the industry. That infatuation sparked Celebrate Lit Publicity Group! The avid Christian fiction reader and author enjoys helping other great Christian authors succeed, one book at a time. She lives with her family in beautiful sunny Southern California. For more information on Celebrate Lit Publicity Group, visit celebratelit.com or follow on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CelebrateLit

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Sandy, thank you for sharing your testimony with us about such a stressful time in your life.

I love how you learned by watching Delylah as she stressed because of her fears and anxieties. Sometimes we can never see in ourselves what we can see through our pets (or in some cases our children).

We are blessed to have you as a part of our Heart”wings” blog team ministry as we send our testimonies and messages of faith, hope, and love into an often dark and troubled world. As we shine His light we pray that our readers will be drawn closer to God through our blog messages so that they may be used for His glory and purpose. j

I so agree with Joyce! I often feel I don’t pay enough attention to all that goes on around me, trying to remain focused on twelve other pertinent things! I admire those who the Lord teaches a principle through such as our pets. And what a great lesson to learn.

He has to spell things out for me 🙂 Sent me a birthday card from a ministry — just a rack card of green cardstock that said on it: Worry hinders every promise of God. I put it on the bathroom mirror and its Truth sunk in. Before the biggest worrier ever, used to get so ANGRY with Ron for refusing to worry . . . but once God got my attention, I jumped over to his side. Have ever since REFUSED worry or anxiety and fear because we KNOW we can trust our GREAT GOD! Hallelujah! Thank you for the wonderful post and sharing such a helpful Truth!

Wonderfully stated, Sandy.
I have seen worry stress one out to the point that their body starts to have reactions like unexplained illnesses. Worry is something I try not to do, sadly it still creeps in from time to time. Recently it has been over book business. I hate to worry because I know that means that, in a way, I am telling God I do not trust His hand in my life. That just isn’t the case. When I do worry, I find myself at the altar, laying my worry at the foot of the Cross.
Thank you for sharing sister. <3